To 'slam' or not to 'slam' .....

On the basis of a fairly brief look in Yahoo!7 Answers much of the material is rubbish - the questions are insincere and the answers aren't much better. Perhaps the fact that I looked under the Environment and Health categories skewed the results. Most questions in Environment were more platforms for expressing an opinion.
WikiAnswers had a much higher standard of questions and answers.
"Slamming the boards" certainly showcases the quality of library reference services - the quality of the answers stood out like a beacon and no wonder they regularly received 'best answer' accolades - much more detailed, referenced, with referrals to further information sources whereas many of the other answers were only a sentence based on the respondent's 'knowledge'. The little asides like "your library is a great resource for all" and (my favourite) "we {i.e. librarians} eat questions for breakfast" are a good marketing ploy in reminding viewers of the existence and relevance to them of libraries.
However I won't be out 'slamming the boards' because I simply don't have time - need to answer local reference questions first. Reference librarians in bigger libraries might like to do the odd one as time permits - the 'whatever you can do on one day per month' is a good idea - as a professional activity, for personal satisfaction or even just in case some Australians might have questions out there and so be accessible for the message. I can't imgine any of my locals using an answer board to hear the pro-library messages/see the evidence of library relevance and quality and the 'serve for the general good' theory fails to convince in the face of other pressures
Local ratings ... I guess clients vote with their feet (which is damning when one's circulation and visitor statistics are heading south ....) I haven't had much success in getting members to rate returned fiction books with a 'smiley' or 'frown' face label and that's a pretty basic collection evaluation measure. As far as reference answers go I just rely on the 'Now does that answer your question?" feedback request. The annual plea for feedback on "How could the library more effectively meet your needs?" service has garnered responses ranging rom six to nil in the five years it has been conducted. So .. are they happy? apathetic? resigned? Search me !!!